Public invited to mark completion of key mobility projects

Public invited to mark completion of key mobility projects

Community members and others are invited to celebrate important transportation projects designed to accommodate future growth and provide a new travel corridor between downtown and the BelRed area.

Improvements to Northeast Fourth Street and 120th Avenue Northeast also are intended to boost the economy and improve travel times for walkers, bicyclists, drivers, transit riders and freight haulers.

The celebration takes place 8:30-10 a.m. Friday, Nov. 17, in the Brierwood Center parking lot at 12001 NE 12th St. U.S. Rep. Adam Smith, Mayor John Stokes, other City Councilmembers and business leaders are anticipated to attend. The event will include breakfast treats and hot beverages, swag bag giveaways, project information materials and speeches.

“Completing substantial transportation projects such as the ones in downtown and BelRed show our willingness to invest in our community and its future,” Mayor Stokes said. “I’m very pleased to highlight these latest transportation milestones and look ahead to new ones.”

The festivities also will serve as a kickoff for new projects now being designed, or already under construction in BelRed, where substantial population and job growth is anticipated. Projects to be featured at the celebration are:

120th Avenue Northeast widening: Improvements on 120th Avenue, between Northeast Third and 16th streets, have been accomplished in three phases. The work started in 2014 and the last two phases, north of Northeast Eighth Street, are wrapping up. Upgrades include a new travel lane in each direction, new bike lanes, wider sidewalks and landscaping.

Northeast Fourth Street Extension: This project included a new segment of Northeast Fourth Street that extended the road from 116th Avenue to 120th Avenue, enhancing traffic flow from downtown, through Wilburton, to the BelRed area. Upgrades, completed in 2015, included bike lanes, sidewalks and landscaping.

Future BelRed projects: Construction or design work on several additional projects are underway in BelRed. They include building Northeast Spring Boulevard, a new east-west arterial street now under construction, and widening the existing north-south arterials 124th and 130th avenues. The roadway improvements will be compatible with the East Link light rail alignment, now under construction by Sound Transit.

To help fund the BelRed projects, Bellevue secured a $99.6 million, low-interest federal loan earlier this year. The city’s investment in the Northeast Fourth Street and 120th Avenue Northeast projects totals more than $100 million.